Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
Nigel Harris wants to know why Wales have to play their home matches in England
What major football debate have you had recently? How about a manager being sacked partly due to mass hysteria about his personal beliefs? The merits of someone being able to manage club and country? The reality of per-pay-view football? An FA Cup match effectively being declared null and void? All worthy topics, but what about the British international team barred from playing a match in its own country?
Jamie Rainbow takes a look at the latest football developments on the internet
Ken Bates has made great play of the financial potential of Chelsea Football Club. They may not yet be the Manchester United of the south, but looking at the official club website, it seems only a matter of time before the off-the-field activities match their success on the field. Many of the club’s diverse range of activities are featured.
Dear WSC
As a Wimbledon supporter I am often frustrated by the lack of a uniquely identifiable song, and some people might also feel the lack of a mascot. The fact that we have the best educated supporters in the country and our nickname of “Dons” set me thinking. For a mascot we could have a middle-aged man in a chalky tweed suit, gown and mortar board, carrying a large book, Plato’s Republic, or the Faerie Queene, say. As a special treat for the kiddies, perhaps he could recruit them for MI6 or the KGB over sherry. As for a song, the school song, Gaudeanus Igitur (Let them rejoice) would suffice. It would be particularly appropriate for its second verse with the lines “Vivat Academia, Vivat Professores”, loosely translated as “Long Live Academica, Come on You Dons”.I hope all Wombles will aid my campaign to make this song as famous as You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Aled Thomas, Cheltenham
Monday 1 Glenn Hoddle refuses to step down as England coach, but Tony Blair and, more importantly, the Nationwide building society come out against him. "He has a responsibility to ensure that his personal views shouldn't be confused with those of the England team, the FA or its sponsors," says Mike Lazenby, Nationwide's marketing director. "I'm not some crackpot who comes out with stupid remarks to cause controversy," Hoddle insists, despite all evidence to the contrary. John Hartson is fined £20,000 and given a three-match ban by the FA for his training-ground attack on Eyal Berkovic. "I have to control my aggression," Hartson says, which will be unwelcome news to his manager.
Two men, one backside and a whole lot of controversy
Such is the intense spotlight trained on Premiership football these days, we are told, that nothing escapes the attention of the action replay cameras and the press provocateurs who feed on their evidence. In a limited way, the theory is perfectly true. Yet for all the microscopic detail now available to the media and the authorities alike, football still has blind spots about certain subjects, which go unmentioned even when they are shouting to be heard. One such came up, but only very slowly, after the Chelsea v Liverpool match on February 27th. The repeated clashes between Robbie Fowler and Graeme Le Saux were highlighted on Match of the Day and splashed all over the Monday papers, but the issue at the heart of the matter was not made plain until the Tuesday.